Charles Bell

Charles Bell is an Associate Professor of Criminal Justice Sciences at Illinois State University. His research explores how out-of-school suspension, seclusion, restraint, and school safety measures affect students, parents, and teachers. He also examines social factors that contribute to violent student-student and student-teacher altercations. The Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP) selected his book Suspended: Punishment, Violence, and the Failure of School Safety (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2021) as a finalist for the 2021 C. Wright Mills Book Award.

Professor Bell is a subject matter expert on school discipline, violence, and safety projects with the National Center for School Safety (NCSS). He has also collaborated on projects with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and served as an expert witness in state and federal school punishment cases.

Professor Bell has been interviewed and cited by several news outlets such as NBC News, NPR, Detroit News, WGLT, Atlanta Black Star, Lakeshore PBS, Detroit PBS, WCBU Peoria, WMBD Central Illinois, and Aljazeera America.

His next book, No Restraint: Disabled Children and Institutionalized Violence in America’s Schools, focuses on how school seclusion and restraint impact families of children with disabilities.